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Democrats to Obama: Keep Constitution on the table in debt ceiling fight

Udall said the Constitution compells Obama to bypass Congress on the debt ceiling. | AP Photo

“Maybe we’ll start talking about impeachment on the floor of the House here,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican who believes the debt ceiling is among Republicans’ few remaining fiscal constraints. “Really, President Obama should not try this.”

Obama invoking the 14th Amendment would amount to “a nuclear bomb,” said Rep. Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican and chairman of the Joint Economic Committee.

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“We certainly wouldn’t let it stand,” Brady said, though he didn’t mention impeachment. “This is America’s debt. It is serious business and not something to play a legal and political game with.”

But while conservatives argue that invoking the 14th Amendment is unconstitutional, Democrats say that’s up to the Supreme Court.

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) is urging Obama to try his luck.

“If I were the president, I would say, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do. You want to sue me? Go ahead. Because I have just made a decision that I am not going to allow Social Security recipients to miss a check,’” Cleaver said Friday.

Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), who says the president should “absolutely” keep the option on the table, said only the Supreme Court needs to worry about what’s constitutional.

“Frankly, as a member of the legislative branch, our job is not to decide whether something is constitutional or not,” the Ways and Means member said. “If we said, ‘Gee, what will Alito think on this or what will John Roberts think on that?’ we would never get anywhere. … If someone disagrees with what we’re doing, they can then take it to the court for clarification.”

Of course, not all Democrats are advocating that Obama go out on this constitutional limb.

Rep. Sander Levin, the top Democrat on Ways and Means, says the president has spoken on this front — and it’s not going to happen.

“I think everybody should take him at his word that he’s not invoking the 14th Amendment, and he’s not negotiating on the debt. Take him at his word,” he said.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, says even floating the idea actually empowers the GOP. Republicans will continue to be steadfast in their demands and less likely to negotiate with Democrats if they believe the president can and will raise the ceiling on his own, he said.

That’s why the White House is trying to shut down the idea, Van Hollen speculated.

“I think the reason is they want to make it very clear — crystal clear — to the Republicans that there’s no way out of this,” he said. “That they don’t have an escape hatch with the president issuing the 14th Amendment.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) says Obama should neither negotiate over the debt ceiling nor raise it on its own. Instead, he should demand an increase and let Republicans suffer the consequences if they refuse to comply.

“If Republicans want to let the full faith and credit go down the drain,” Schumer said, “that's on their backs."

MJ Lee contributed to this story.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 6:26 p.m. on January 4, 2013.

Readers' Comments (224)

Obama's plan is Trickle Up Poverty where everyone is equally poor except the ruling class similar to Cuba and the Old USSR. The democrats want to create a permanent majority of people who are dependent upon the government for their basic needs and will always vote for the party who offers more free stuff. A clever way to use taxpayer money to buy votes.

It is pointless to urge President Obama not to retreat from a position of strength when confronted by GOP intransigence; he will always do so, as his behavior in the recent fiscal cliff negotiation made clear. After campaigning vocally on raising tax rates for those above the $250,000 income threshold, he was the first to offer raising that to $400,000 when by simply "standing pat" he could have accomplished his orginal proposal simply by letting the Bush tax cuts expire. Inevitably the GOP would have had to concede to him by reinstating those rates only for the 98 percent below his original $250,000 threshold, so long as he refused to reinstate them across the board, but resoluteness is not in his repertoire.

Republican fear of Obama invoking the Fourteenth Amendment, and ordering Treasury to pay the bills, is the best argument for Obama keeping that measure as an option. Their threat to impeach him if he uses it shows that it would be a good idea.

An offensive, to Republicans at least, strike without waiting would be most effective. Leave the house and senate republicans in disarray. So what if it moves through the courts, the action transactions will be in place when the decisions come down.

Shut down every Federal military installation from North Carolina to Texas. I have had enough of these Southern welfare queen states.

And shut down NASA, too.

I'm tired of these idiot Libs using satellites to watch TV and guide their cars................

Don't forget to stop sending out those Government pension checks to all those folks who've fled the Blue States to retire, and AFDC checks to the overwhelming number of minorities that live in the south as well.

I'm tired of these morons giving away our tax money, and then acting like it's OUR fault that FAR more of the people they give it to live here in the south.................

Maybe if they seek an Impeachment over THIS, they will finally grow big enough Cajones to back it up with his fraudulent B.C....at LEAST,investigate the Investigation of Sheriff Joe that all but proved he issued a Fraudulent document to the American people.I hope his skinny ass gets haiuled off to prison before this is allover, for the damage he has inflicted on this Nation and it's people.What a disaster.EVERYDAY, just stress and disaster !

OK the 14 amendment was written for the rights of slaves but I guess some of you are going to try to stretch the 4 sub that mentions debt. Read close that also states the debt is caused by rebellion. But maybe you can really really stretch that to convince a judge. Then you must have been to lazy to read sub 5. That little ditty say's that Congress has the power to enact or deny it. So let's see where it all goes.

When will republicans get serious about spending borrowed money on the inflated war machine with tons of military contractors, war on drugs (massive waste of money), foreign bases (isn't 50 years enough for taxpayers). farming subsidies and more. I don't consider Social Security and Medicaid as entitlements.

3 things are going to happen if he tries to slime his way through this.

1. Just try it Obama...you will end up being a 4yr lame duck President and can kiss goodbye any further cooperation on anything...you thought it has been difficult to date to work with the opposition, you pull this stunt and forget about it.

2. The markets will turn on Obama and destroy the economy if he invokes the 14th

3. The American people who have been blinded by guilt will turn on you as well and see you for what you are, a socialist big taxing big spending liberal...setting the Democratic party on course for crushing losses in 2014 and 2016.

No economist in the country considers the debt a critical issue to be dealt with out of this or next year's budgets. Any effort to shrink the deficit in 2013 or 2014 will be self defeating because that shock therapy would slow recovery, likely throw us into a recessions and balloon the debt projections by trillions more. As it is, canceling the 2% payroll tax cut is forecast to slow the economic growth by 0.5% annually all by itself.

Every economist says that now is the time for fiscal stimulus spending on our crumbling and outmoded infrastructure (especially bridges, the electrical grid, and our slow internet), education and training, and research grants to increase the growth rate and INVEST in the American economy. These won't "crowd out" private investment (especially at current low levels), but rather complement and stimulate business to invest and banks to lend (instead of sitting on the trillions they currently refuse to unleash).

At the same time, the long-run debt problems can and should be dealt with now by locking in committments to balanced budgets and surpluses during the last four years of this decade after the economy has recovered from the financial panic of 2008. Meanwhile, higher growth from the new stimulus plan now will dramatically lessen the projected debt.

Why can't Washington see that we can do both at once but will only worsen the debt if we don't act now to reduce? It is so easy to do and everyone wins. This is not like one of those zero sum game impasses of the 1970s and early 1980s where every decision was a Hobson's choice: inflation or unemployment, energy or the environment, growth or quality of life. We can have it all, and there would be no losers. The wealthy will do even better rather than losing everything. But we can't get there from here because of blind ideology, game of ruin partisanship, economic ignorance paired with political hubris, and a broken political system.

It's so ironic how the wing nuts hate the 14th amendment, and would even more if it's used to save the economy from these self-destructive loonies. Don't they know that when Romney said, "My friend, corporations are people, too," he was referring to the status conferred by that same 14th Amendment?